One Man's Trash is Another Man's New Home

I woke up relatively early this morning and came across this article titled "One Man's Trash" on the NYTimes.com and was instantly intrigued... I pulled some photographs from the the Slide Show, but for more pics click here.

"AMONG the traditional brick and clapboard structures that line the streets of this sleepy East Texas town, 70 miles north of Houston, a few houses stand out: their roofs are made of license plates, and their windows of crystal platters.

They are the creations of Dan Phillips, 64, who has had an astonishingly varied life, working as an intelligence officer in the Army, a college dance instructor, an antiques dealer and a syndicated cryptogram puzzle maker. About 12 years ago, Mr. Phillips began his latest career: building low-income housing out of trash."

The photographs just draw you in, especially the one of Mr. Phillips' ceiling made of sample frames! I was particularly intrigued since I recently read an article, also in the NYTimes about how "LEED Seeks to Beef Up Its Credentials." As you may recall, I wrote about LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design), a couple months ago. I was pleased to hear that they're seeking to improve their credentials, considering it turns out may LEED certified designs are not living up to their green name.

The simplicity of Mr. Phillips' desire to help others by way of preventing trash to otherwise end up on a landfill and instead be made useful to provide a roof over heads is very inspiring. Not to mention the fact that it resulted in both his town and Houston to set up a donation site for recycled material.

I like to come up with new uses for things I would otherwise through away, but Mr. Phillips takes it to a whole new level... He's built 14 homes made up of 80% recycled materials... Kudos!

Am going to finish my fluffy pancakes covered in wild blueberry syrup and maple syrup, then enjoy the day!

Happy Labour Day Weekend! Not sure if I'll be posting on Monday, but I'll definitely be back on Tuesday ;)

xo,
ej

PS- If you call Guelph home, don't forget that next Saturday, September 12th, I'll be at Wyndham Art Supplies, 164 Wyndham Street North, Guelph, Ontario from 12-4pm for my second Ecojot Fan Appreciation Event!

Feature Finds Wednesday

So I am wrapping up at Ecojot Headquarters... And I am super excited to let you know about two features that I discovered today!

The first on Rachel McAdams, Megan and Didi's very ecofriendly website: www.greenissexy.org

It turns out Ecojot is their green sexy "July Product of the Month!" Megan kindly emailed me back when I thanked her for the mention, and as it turns out all three lovely ecoFabulous ladies discovered they all use Ecojot products and decided that meant they should feature us :)

The second find was thanks to someone who sent me an anonymous note via Ecojot's feedback page.... NYTimes Frugal Traveler Blogger Matt Gross featured Ecojot 3x4" notebooks as a Top 10 of this Travel Gadgets under $50! In fact we were number 10!

I love the quote, that jibed Moleskine a bit (which I'd like to mention is not the least bit green)...

"Some gadgets are newfangled and exciting, others time-tested and true — which is why, wherever I go, I carry a notepad and a pen. Moleskine is the ultra-popular choice, but I prefer Ecojot’s 3-by-4-inch recycled-paper notepads (about $5), which are smaller and more flexible, but with enough backing to provide a stable writing surface."

I am still trying to find out how Matt discovered us. Either way, it's a super great plug that's currently appearing on the first page of my favourite paper and online newspaper!

Well that's it for now... I've been receiving kind notes that my Ecojot Flair Winners have been receiving their buttons in the mail... YAY! Please remember to send me your pics. I have received a couple already... Much appreciated!

From your OJ to your wrist watch... Reducing your carbon footprint

When I came across a NYTimes article entitled "How Green Is My Orange?" I couldn't help but want to click to read. After all, for the last few weeks I have been diligently buying big juicy oranges and making freshly squeezed OJ with my lovely ceramic juicer from my dear friend Janet --pictured above - the juicer not Janet ;)

The article refers to PepsiCo's recent concern on "How much does your morning glass of orange juice contribute to global warning?" Turns out, "3.75 pounds of carbon dioxide are emitted to the atmosphere for each half-gallon carton of orange juice." The question is, will PepsiCo start marketing this fact, and print it directly on their packaging. Do consumers care? What do you think?

I certainly do take an active mental note of packaging when I go shopping. I carry around my colourful patterned canvas bags to avoid plastic, but would I read the number of carbon dioxide units on a box? I care about eating healthy, but I don't calorie count. I'd love to hear your thoughts.

From reading carbon dioxide emissions on consumer products to, outright erasing your carbon footprint completely by simply wearing a wrist watch. Check out the eECO2 personal carbon dioxide scrubber by James Kershaw and Chad Garn. Featured at Yanko Design, "the system looks at capturing directly from the air and making it cleaner" while also telling time.

Would you wear it?

Seeing as I managed to require repair for my new wrist watch I got for Christmas already... I would! :-o

Well that's it for now. Bon weekend! Happy weekend!

xo, ej

PS - Until I figure out how to create a web widget to the left to announce current giveaways... Here's my January Giveaway, only 8 more days left!

Onwards, Upwards and therefore looking up and seeing GREEN!

I trust we can all agree that was quite the speech by 44th American President Barack Obama yesterday. I happened to be at a community college library at noon, in awe of the history unfolding before me on a large projected screen of live CNN streaming video. "I suppose this is your Man walking on the Moon," said a woman to me. I nodded and replied with a big smile.

Now it's onwards and upwards we go. And if I were living in Helsinki (last year anyway), I'd be looking up at le Nuage Vert, the "Green Cloud" by French art duo Hehe (Helen Evans and Heiki Hansen).


Featured on inhabitat, "HeHe installed a Nuage Vert, or “Green Cloud”, across the skies of Helsinki. The installation used laser tracking to project a green illumination onto the chimney emissions of the Salmisaari power plant. The illumination adjusts its shape and size to the contours of the vapor, reflecting the electrical consumption of residents in Ruoholahti and neighboring Lauttasaari."

Click here for the full article. What an incredible art piece... Or as the French say "incroyable!" Apparently during the week long installation, local residents were encouraged to consume less. Incredible and inspiring to say the least...

Just as inspiring as your ecoResolutions as part of my January Giveaway. 30+ comments to day! That's a third more than my first Giveaway... Yay! Thanks everyone, and remember I'm running it till the end of the month... So please encourage your friends to share their ecoResolutions!

xo,
ej

From Homeless Chateau to a Box of Tricks

As I am new to GreenMuze, I excitedly visited the website last night to see what fascinating things I would discover. My quickly caught a feature on The Homeless Chateau by nomadic artist James Westwater.

The Homeless Chateau is "a 4ft x 8ft x 4ft small dwelling made from FSC certified and recycled materials, which makes a provocative statement on the need to reclaim small spaces."

After living in a 120 square foot then-girlfriend-now-wife and three dogs, Westwater began wondering how small could one go with a house. Before long, he was inspired to build a Plywood Chateau he nicknamed Chateau for the Homeless Artist in his garden. He would invite people to stay in it, as in an artists' residency program. As he put it, "I guessed it would be smallest live/work residency in the country." With homelessness a genuine concern, it's a thought provoking art piece to say the very least. Read the full interview here.


From GreenMuze, I found myself on my favourite source for news and intriguing info, the NYTimes where on the very topic of small architecture, I came across "24 Rooms Tucked Into One." What architect Gary Chang dubs the "Domestic Transformer" is literally a 344-square-foot Hong Kong apartment he renovated last year capable of 24 different layouts.

"The allusion to toy robots seems apt, given the science-fiction quality of the color scheme -mostly black and silver, washed in eerie yellow light."

Just the pictures are worth a look. Click here for a slide show referring to the apartment as a "Box of Tricks."

Would love to know what you think of these small spaces... And if you're new to the site, comment on this January Giveaway post for your chance to win an ecoAgenda if you haven't already ;)

Well that's it for now. Happy Friday!

xo, ej

Wow Inspiring Wednesday

day 337 - [remote] control freak
Originally uploaded by Amadika

So I have to admit, I am thrilled to see so many ecoResolutions posted in response to my January Giveaway. What an inspiration to see so many of you committed to giving back to our planet.

It's particularly inspiring to know that the desire to be eco-friendly encourages innovation and innovation encourages eco-friendliness.

What I clung to most in a recent NYTimes article "Design Loves a Depression," is the hope that the better design will result not only in more affordable, "but packaging and other everyday objects to be designed specifically for recycling so that their parts and materials are used and reused without waste."

From Eco•font, which *~Jackie~* mentioned and I touched upon on in a previous post, to low power radio technology.... There are exciting eco-innovations abound!

My Uncle Matt was kind enough to forward this article to me, "Low power radio technology means no more remote control batteries," that I somehow missed on DVice. Apparently

"Not only does this technology [by Green Peak] enable better remote controls - they'll work through walls up to nearly a hundred feet away - but could help eliminate the 8 billion dead remote control AA and AAA batteries that are tossed into the garbage each year."

If you hear of an exciting eco-innovation, please do share. Thanks for stopping by :)

xo,
ej